In what would be the sleaziest maneuver of Jerry Brown’s tenure, a legislative committee suddenly has rescheduled a hearing for Thursday morning that would allow the state to move forward with the governor’s $19.9 billion Delta tunnels water grab. Without a vote of the Legislature, without a vote of the people, and without legislative oversight.

Appalling doesn’t begin to describe this end run of ratepayers, voters and their elected representatives on the next-to-last-day of the legislative session. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, and state Senate President Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, had canceled the original Aug. 14 hearing after this newspaper and others raised objections. Rendon and Atkins deserve to be labeled gutless if they now allow this charade to proceed.

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The governor has been determined to make the massive water-conveyance project part of his legacy, no matter the negative impact on the health of the Delta, which supplies two-thirds of the state’s fresh-water supply.

Brown will get his way if the Assembly and Senate’s Joint Legislative Budget Committee follows through with its plan to hold the 8 a.m. session. It’s a procedural hearing that would allow the state Department of Water Resources to extend the State Water Project contracts for another 50 years. Under state law, all the joint committee has to do is meet and listen. If they do, that would allow DWR to lock in water contracts for the Delta tunnels project before Brown leaves office at the end of the year.

That, in turn, would allow Southern California’s Metropolitan Water District room to move forward with its desire to snag as much water as possible from the Delta.

The absurdity of extending the contracts is that the governor and the DWR don’t know how much water would be available if the tunnels are built. Nor do they have information on the tunnels’ financing or what the cost allocation would be for water districts that might be forced to pay the bills.

What is known is that Met, the largest water district in the United States, is pushing the tunnels project forward despite the opposition of its two largest members, the Los Angeles Water District and the San Diego County Water Authority. The L.A. and San Diego districts oppose the project because it doesn’t pencil out. The State Water Resources Control Board and scientists studying the Delta have made clear that more water needs to flow through the Delta toward San Francisco Bay to preserve the Delta’s health.

As if Thursday’s hearing isn’t bad enough, Assemblyman Richard Bloom, D-Santa Monica, is pushing forward a gut-and-amend bill, AB 2649, that would further circumvent the public’s ability to monitor water contracts. Bloom’s bill would reduce the period for public notification and submittal of final language for future contracts from 60 days to 10.

Major water projects affecting the entire state demand maximum transparency, a thorough review process and a full vote of the Legislature, if not all California voters.

Extending the state’s water contracts for 50 years without a single vote from the people or the people’s representatives stains the reputation of all involved, including the governor.